Happy Saturday all,
Hope everyone enjoyed my first crack at newsletter writing last week, I’m still getting into the swing of things though. My sympathies go out to all you Patriots fans who were undoubtedly disappointed about the Seahawks' Super Bowl win.
This week I want to highlight a story I wrote about five housing projects that are expected to break ground or finish construction this year, adding hundreds of new apartments and housing units to Auburn.
As the state continues to struggle with housing demand, the new construction projects will help meet some of that demand in Auburn, though the city is still a long way from the target number of housing units needed to quell demand.
In recent years the city has also seen a sustained increase in building permits compared to years before the pandemic. You can read more about this in the story here.
In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to me at kcaruso@metln.org with news tips, events, photos or just to let me know about town happenings.
-Kendra Caruso |
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| LOCAL NEWS |
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| Edward Little’s Akol Maiwen celebrates Thursday after being named MVP following a basketball game in Auburn against rival Lewiston. Edward Little overpowered Lewiston, 54-35. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer) |
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Lewiston's expanded smoking ban ought to be a lot of fun.
The map of areas where puffing is prohibited is so disordered and confusing, I expect to see old men in tweed jackets walking straight up the middle of Main Street with their meerschaum pipes just to keep themselves on the right side of the law.
You can smoke on one side of Main Street between Hammond and High but not the other. Your Salem menthol is legally sound on the southwest side of Park Street between Main and Oak, but not on the northeast side.
On Middle Street, it's the opposite. You can smoke on the northeast side, but God be with you if you're found making lipstick rings around your Merit 100 on the southwest side.
City leaders have arranged it so that a brother has to carry a compass and map just to avoid getting tackled by police while taking three fast hits off his vape.
I always wonder about enforcement of these smoking bans. Is a blood-pumping cop, en route to the latest bank heist, going to slam on his brakes because he spotted some bedraggled fellow sucking on a Winston along the southwest side of Park Street?
No, wait. The southwest side is safe. Change that to "the northeast side of Park Street" and my scenario makes sense. You know, sort of.
Forgive my cynicism. It's just that I always find these kinds of feel-good bans rather dubious. If bans work, why not announce bans of heroin, violence and drunkenness all over the city and call it a day? |
Send feedback to Mark | Read his columns on sunjournal.com
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COMMUNITY VOICES/AROUND TOWN |
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Auburn residents have until March 16 to pay the second half of their 2025 real estate taxes. People can look at their bill and make payments online through the city's Citizen Self Service Portal.
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| THINGS TO DO |
The University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn Campus is hosting a public discussion where people can meet to ask questions and express fears, disappointments, frustrations, aspirations and their successes with raising children who speak both French and English. The free event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 27, at 51 Westminster St. in Lewiston. It is also being offered on Zoom. For preregistration, preferred but not required, reach out to anna.faherty@maine.edu. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is hosting Winter Fest Outdoor Skills Day Sunday, Feb. 15, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Beaver Park in Lisbon where people will have an opportunity to learn how to ice fish for free. For more information visit the Department’s website. Maine Mystics FC is hosting a February Break Soccer Smash for kids in grades 3-6 starting Monday, Feb. 16, at Ingersoll Arena Turf Facility. The event promises to be action-packed with skills, scrimmages and fun. To purchase tickets visit the Maine Mystics FC website. Comedian Bob Marley will be at Lost Valley Tuesday, Feb. 17, promising to make people laugh with his brand of Maine humor. Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite. Kids will have the chance to step inside a whale Friday, Feb. 20, at Lewiston Public Library, where a life-size inflatable humpback whale will be on display for kids to walk though and learn about its anatomy, along with ocean conservation. There will be four available times for people to participate in either 60-minute or 30-minute programs. Registration is required either in person, by phone at 207-513-3133 or by email at lplkids@lewistonmaine.gov. Local Author Kayla James will be at Books-A-Million in Auburn Saturday, Feb. 21, at 11 a.m. for a book signing event. Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite. |
| VISIT OUR EVENTS CALENDAR
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Jan. 29, 1973: "'A mass of wrecked vehicle!' That was the way one Auburn officer summed up the situation on Goff Hill this morning. More than 25 vehicles were involved in some-type collision as 1973's first major snowstorm plowed its way through the Twin Cities, creating hazardous driving conditions.
Between 7 o'clock and 8:45 this morning there were more than a dozen collisions, some involving three or more vehicles, reported to police."
Click here to read more of this story from 1975. Subscribers enjoy exclusive access to search and browse our digital archives on Newspapers.com. |
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Kendra Caruso is the Auburn city reporter for the Sun Journal. After graduating from the University of Maine in 2019, she got her start in journalism at The Republican Journal in Belfast. She started working at the Sun Journal in 2023 writing about health and education. She has a passion for community reporting and keeping people informed on important happenings in their town. Send feedback and suggestions to Kendra. You can support this newsletter by encouraging friends and family to subscribe and sign up for the companion newsletter, Lewiston Now. Read more news at sunjournal.com.
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